Come Back
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: No matter how dark it is, you can always pull yourself back out. You just have to want it for yourself. - One-shot, set after A Dragon's Love.


When he was a little boy, Laxus would sit around for days, awaiting his father's return. Ivan wasn't an S-Class wizard, never had been, but the jobs he took were complex for him, it seemed, and always took extended periods of time to complete. So, ever the faithful son, Laxus would sit around the hall his grandfather ran, watching the doors, awaiting his father's return. For weeks, if not months, at a time, Ivan would just be gone. Wouldn't write, wouldn't use the communication lacrima; he was just gone.

It was almost like he didn't care.

So from that early age, Laxus decided that he'd never do that to his kids. He'd be a mage, of course, he'd be the best one there ever was, but he wouldn't just leave them all high and dry for no good reason. If he was out on a job, they'd know where he was headed, when he was planning on returning, and, if he got held up with something, he'd definitely contact them any way that he knew how. They wouldn't just be left in the dark and treated as if they only existed when he was around them.

And he held true to that. To some extent.

The thing was, when he finally had his son, he wasn't really his son. Which was an odd statement to make, sure, but actually wasn't that complex. He couldn't claim Orion as his own son, for fear of a curse that would take the boy's mother's life. The same curse that led to the Dreyar clan mostly being made up of males. It was only natural for him to try and save Mirajane's life.

Wasn't it?

He felt like it was.

Still though, even if he didn't claim Mirajane's son as his own, he never was far. At all. As an S-Class wizard, sure, he was gone a lot, but most of his jewels went to Orion, if not all. Well, they went to Mirajane, to use for Orion, but it was definitely known that it was going to the boy. And Laxus would watch him, if not a bit creepily, should one not realize their relation. He constantly was staring over at him at the hall, when Mirajane would bring him there, or happen upon her and the boy when they were out on town, just to make sure that Orion was still alright.

When the time rolled around, however, that Laxus had a child that he could actually claim and did, very proudly (as well as Orion by that point), he wasn't going out on jobs any more. Rather, he was Fairy Tail's Guild Master and was hardly ever far from Magnolia.

When he was, though, she typically tagged along.

Snow. She was one of the last things that Mirajane gave to him before she passed on and, well, Laxus liked to think that he was taking very good care of her.

But that, sadly, wasn't the point. It was, in fact, that Laxus never left anyone at home, impatiently awaiting his return.

Rather, he was the one typically sitting around, anxiously counting days and nervously thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Laxus remembered how he'd been, all those years ago, when he used to travel Fiore, kicking butt and totally sleeping around more than he should. Getting drunk and taking jobs while also finding himself in insane amounts of trouble.

And Orion wasn't nearly as street smart as the slayer had been! At all! He couldn't even get along with his other guild mates; he was probably off most of the time, no doubt, getting into arguments with strangers with strange powers and, damn, Laxus wished sometimes he wasn't the Master. Then he go could follow Orion around and they could be a team, together, and look out for one another and-

And there was Snow. Who needed him. And he would never abandon.

It was in those solemn moments that Laxus recalled those days back before Orion knew he was his father and used to follow him around, like a puppy, begging for attention. Recognition.

Laxus was always the first to give it to him too. Not just because Orion was his son (though that helped), but because he respected him as a mage. Honest, he did.

He just...wished that he'd check in back at home sometimes.

That was the problem, of course. Orion's home had been forever altered with Mirajane's death and he never rightly felt at peace there anymore. Not at the house, which Laxus still lived in, nor the town itself, which housed his mother's grave. He'd never formed those lifelong bonds with any of the other children in the guild nor Magnolia. His aunts and uncle still lived there, fine, he'd give them that, but he could write to them. Talk to them on a communication lacrima.

No, there was only one person that brought the man back to Magnolia and it was not, and never would be, Laxus.

It was Snow.

She was so young when their mother died that, really, she didn't know her. At all. And Orion, though he wanted to be as far away from all of them as often as possible, also came to the realization that he didn't wish for her sister to forget about him as well. He wanted to be a very big presence in her life; he just didn't want Laxus to be one in his any longer.

But his baby sister? Orion was fiercely involved in her life. Whenever he came home, she was the first one he wanted to see. It was a bit rocky, he would admit, when his mother first passed and he was still coping with that, but years had past since then. Though he was in no way over it, he'd learned to work around it and come to the conclusion that no matter what, Snow was the most important person in his life.

In essence, he took claim to the position his father was always worried about filling. Only, it was his little sister that he was constantly making sure knew where he was. When she got old enough, around three or so, and he was planning on going out on a job (he was constantly out on jobs) they'd sit down together with a big map of Magnolia.

"We're here," he'd always say as she only watch in interest at the place he was pointing out. Then, dragging his finger across the map. "And I'm headed over here. And then here. And here. So see? I'm not that far."

"Come back?" she learned to ask rather young. "Ori?"

"Of course." And he'd probably hug her or snuggle her, just to hear her giggle. "I'll always come back."

Just not for Laxus.

The man tried hard to not let this bother him. He still got to see Orion, of course, when he came around to visit Snow or the rest of his family. And the two would have cordial conversations occasionally. He was, after all, still the man's guild master. There would always be some interaction on that front.

As much as he hated it though, Laxus wasn't able to just sit around and fret over Orion and their ever diminishing relationship. He had many things to do. Between caring for his young daughter all alone, he also had a guild to run. And a social life to pretend like he was having, if only to keep up the appearance that he wasn't slowly drowning in his ever desolate life, only having Snow to be thankful for.

Not that Orion cared. At all. His father's suffering meant nothing to him. The man deserved it. In his mind, it landed squarely on Laxus' shoulders that his mother was dead.

Other than the times when he was busy blaming himself, as it was his birth that enacted whatever sort of curse it was that had been forced upon her.

That probably had a lot to do with it, actually. His traveling. When he was young boy, he used to tell Mirajane all the time that he would do just that. That he'd see all of Fiore after becoming S-Class and never return home. It was all innocent though and purely fed off the romanticized ideal he had about S-Class status. Mostly Laxus. Back before he knew that man as his father, he'd thought of him as this great hero, that traveled the lands, kicking butt wherever he went.

It wasn't, of course, as great as he'd always dreamed. He had no friends (never had, really), no destination most of the time, and typically was rather lonely. Having grown up as a rather reserved child, he'd learned many coping mechanisms to such things, but still. Eventually it grew on you.

He thought a lot about finally finding a place to call home that he wasn't too upset to return to, but he couldn't imagine it. Besides, it'd have to be in Magnolia, or at least close by, so that he could be around his sister, and that just completely defeated the purpose.

So he stuck to the nomadic life. Even though it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, it did give him the excuse whenever his Aunt Ever (and his Uncle Elf, if she forced him) brought up how he hardly ever spoke to his father. He could just claim that it was impossible for him to start up a correspondence with him because, simply, he never knew where he'd be from one point at time to the next. Writing to the man would be useless; he could never reply.

"You could always use your communication lacrima, dear," she'd say as she'd pat him on the head or something stupid like that, because his Aunt Ever still thought he was a child. "Like you do with the rest of us."

He had no good excuse for that one and would usually just grumble about something and be done with it. The woman could revere Laxus all she liked; he would never do the same.

Not again.

There was one person, however, that Orion still held in the highest of esteems and that was, of course, Erza Scarlet. She had, after all, been the one to train him in his arrows and the magic spells he infused them with. The only real bit of magic he possessed that had no association with her was his transformation magic, that he learned from his mother, which was just as special to him.

For her to be one of the most important people in his life, however, Orion had this weird thing about Erza. Or she did about him, rather. She didn't...need to see him. Not like his Aunt Ever, Aunt Lisanna, or Uncle Elfman. And definitely not like Laxus wanted to or Snow had to.

And most of the time, she didn't. They'd go long months without even speaking. She'd be out on a job when he was in town, he'd be out on one when she was; their schedules rarely meshed.

But Erza was used to that, of course. It had long been the nature of her relationship with Jellal, who would only come to Magnolia, at most, twice a year, and leave before even a week was up. Orion in no way thought that he was as important to the woman as that man was, but the rarity of their visits together seemed quite similar.

If one were to ask the swordswoman, however, it was rooted in a far more simple matter. Erza respected, above all else, a hard work ethic. As her understudy, she expected Orion to distribute this. When she heard he was out on a job, it made her swell with pride. Unlike all the lazy bones up at the hall, who would just as happily drink themselves into oblivion as they would dare take a job, Orion was driven to, in her mind, one goal.

The creed of every mage everywhere. Upholding the balance of magic and protecting all of Earthland.

For a matching fee, of course.

Mmmm. The rare times Erza did run into the boy- nee, young man, she wanted nothing more than to question him about his travels. He knew this game, as well, and would always refuse at first, claiming that he had hardly done anything at all.

Erza also liked modesty, as he'd come to find out over the years.

Of course, she'd coax it out of him eventually and he'd give her the gist of everything that had gone on since they'd last seen one another. And though the woman liked for him to be modest, she was anything but. She'd just as quickly turn his tales around on all of her friends, bragging up the closest thing to a child she'd ever had in comparison to their children.

Not that he cared or anything, but Orion was pretty sure those were the moments that Laxus hated up at the hall the most. Watching Erza parade Orion around, all proud and beaming, something that he would never get to do.

Again, he didn't care or anything, but it definitely happened.

Rarer still, however, would he run into Erza somewhere other than Magnolia. It had occurred a handful of times, but one in particular that stood out in his mind. He was in a tavern, trying to catch a meal, in some far off place from home, when he heard her voice.

She was loudly arguing with the owner of the establishment about renting out a room for the night. The problem was not the price, however, but rather the excess of...stuff that Erza carried around with her. The man claimed that she would have to rent another room, to keep it in, as it far exceeded the amount of space the one she'd be sleeping in would allow, but Erza didn't see it that way.

She never saw anything anyone's way other than her own.

They were over by the door, Erza and the tavern owner and Orion only turned a bit, waving a hand. The place was small and mostly empty as he called out to her.

"Oy," he complained, the sound of his voice immediately dragging over her eyes. "I'll gladly pay for the woman another room. If there aren't anymore, her stuff can reside in mine."

The tavern owner was content with this, but Erza was ignoring the words completely. Had it not been a good eight months since she'd last seen the man, she might have grumbled to him about how it was the principle, not the price, but it was no matter. He was there, in front of her, being all chivalrous and, damn, he should have realized she was going to come over and slam his head against her armor.

When would he learn the consequences of his actions? Huh?

Erza and he must have stayed down in the bar area of the tavern for hours. She ordered some dessert occasionally and he drank his fill of beer, but they mostly focused on one another. Though he loved his aunts, both of them, neither had filled the place of his mother. Neither had Erza, of course, there was no way she could, but she'd always been a close second.

"I'm actually headed out in the morning," he told her at one point when she offered to him the chance to help her out in the morning, on her own job. "I'm on a request, after all. I just stopped for-"

"Of course. Never in one place too long, are you?" And she smiled at him, that big and nice one that made him feel like a little kid again. She had that affect on him. In a good way. He could still remember quite vividly all those days spent in Erza's backyard, shooting at targets with his bow and arrows long into the afternoon and then spending the night sleeping on her couch in the living room, magic books spread out around him as he'd tried his hardest to stay up for as long as possible, studying all the different things to infuse his arrows with.

The woman alone made him feel nostalgic.

Erza filled him in on many of the goings on in Magnolia that he'd missed recently, but purposely left out any mention of his father. Unlike his aunts, Erza seemed to have long come to the realization that he was a man; they couldn't force him into feeling anything he didn't. Or confronting what he did. He was able to make his own choices. And for the most part, they were pretty dang great.

He could be out abusing his power, terrorizing cities, but he wasn't. He took jobs, completed them, and then took more. A strong work ethic if Erza had ever seen one.

Orion had been a good kid. And now he was a good man. If he didn't want his estranged father meddling in that, then Erza believed it was his choice.

It was just another reason that he liked her so much.

He was up long before the swordswoman the next morning and, after speaking with the barkeep downstairs, made sure that her breakfast the next morning was paid for. Even left a nice tip.

Again, he was a good guy in general.

And knew that she was definitely someone that he should be repaying for the rest of his life.

Much later was when Orion realized just how much divinity was involved in his run-in with his former mentor that day. At the time, he thought that he was still just out on a simple job and that was that.

Until it wasn't that.

That was the thing about success; it was made you boneheaded. For years, Bickslow had cautioned Orion about just brazenly popping up in situations. He'd trained him as well, just a bit (though at times Orion wondered if it was just an attempt to get closer to his Aunt Lisanna…) in the ways of proper acrobatic techniques. Orion knew how to scale a building, jump from tree to tree, hang upside down from his feet. His use of said tricks usually went without saying.

Usually.

When he was a boy, sometimes, he'd mouth off to the seith about how, if his arrows were powerful enough, then he didn't need to hide. That he wasn't a coward. No way. And, though he'd learned over the years the benefits of unavowed movements, eventually, he got a bit...lazy.

It was to be expected, after all. Though he tried his hardest to stay on his toes, at times jobs got boring to him; he just wanted them to end already. And perhaps visiting with Erza had made him more than a bit homesick, which contributed to the mistake, but it was no matter. The point was that it happened. And it was all his fault.

In the days prior, he'd put in some great surveillance time on the hideout of the crooks he was trying to wrangle up. There were three of them. Strong, but no match for him. They were slave traders and, as they were operating outside of the confines of Bosco, completely open to be captured.

He'd put in all his time, honestly, Orion had, in scoping them out. Their nefarious deeds. The only problem was, that day after being with Erza, he neglected to take any interest in the fact that they might not be alone in their hideout. Just stalked them from the hotel they'd been staying in (lavish place, it was; disgusting when he thought about where the jewels to pay for it came from) back to their hideout and bam! He attacked.

Only, he hadn't counted for his proposed captives to have their overhead bosses having come to stay at the hideout overnight.

And though he was, maybe, at the same skill set as one of them, on his own, he was not, at all, prepared for that many guys.

Now Orion had failed before. Misjudged situations. But never before had he had his ass handed to him in such a way.

Honestly, he thought he was going to be killed.

It was what they were proposing, too, as they bound him up, in that hideaway that no one, but him knew about. A fair punishment, he was sure, as the stiff fines for slave-trading in Fiore would no doubt be imposed on them, had he captured them.

While he was fading between consciousness and delirium from blood loss (they'd sliced him up pretty bad), a conversation broke out between this one guy with some really jacked up teeth that kept sneering down into his face and one of the big bosses.

"You see that insignia? That's Fairy Tail." The guy even poked at it with his blade. "We kill this guy, we're in for some major trouble. You ever heard of them?"

"Then let's dice up his body? Huh?" The jacked teeth guy's breath was honestly the only thing that kept jarring Orion back awake. "Put it where they can't find it!"

"If he was one a job lookin' for us, numb nuts," one of the guys growled, "who do you think they're gonna come after?"

"What are you so afraid of, boss?" another one of the guys ventured. Orion had his head down and eyes shut then though and had no idea who it was. "Surely this Fairy Tail ain't better than-"

"Their guild master-"

"Won't care about some lowly member, will he?" The teeth guy was sneering again. "Nah. Not for longer than a day, at most."

But it was another voice, a softer one, one of the bosses that had been there when Orion ambushed, spoke up.

"The bows, the marking, the white hair." He even whistled. "We got Dreyar's bastard."

And there it was. Though he was drifting between worlds at the moment, Orion caught that.

He _hated_ hearing that. It all started up after Laxus married his mother. Maybe a bit before. Sometime after Orion found out about his father, at least, was an accurate statement. The man, for some reason, felt proud of his little bastard and felt the need to brag him up to everyone. Talk about how great he was. As if _he_ had anything to do with that.

It made Orion sick to think about.

The one that had been poking where his guild mark laying across his chest, like his fallen idol's was, suddenly moved the extended blade to his chin. Using the weapon to force Orion to lift his head, he studied him.

"I've seen Raijin before," the man said, almost bitterly. "Once. Boy looks nothin' like him."

"Takes after his mother then," the softer voice replied. "I don't know. But I wouldn't get my hands anymore dirty than they have to be with this. If this is Dreyar's boy, then we're in some deep shit as it is."

"We could take him hostage," one of the others in the hideout suggested.

"We could sell 'im," another called.

But the one with the knife only grinned, wickedly, before dropping the blade.

"I have a better idea," he said before rearing a fist back and slamming it hard against Orion's noggin. And then, finally, he was out.

They must have ditched his body, somewhere out there in the woods. Killing him, clearly, had been inappropriate for fear of retaliation and they had to get rid of him. Fast. Lucky Orion (and them; his wounds were rather severe), someone stumbled upon him eventually and got him help.

He didn't remember any of that, of course. At all.

No, his next memory was quite…different.

It was of his mother. There. Wherever he was. With him. Talking to him. Scolding him. Loving him. Or something. He was fuzzy on that. But it was definitely her.

Mirajane.

He tried to tell her about how he'd screwed up and how scared he was and sorry that it was all his fault, that she was dead, but wait, she wasn't dead, because she was right there. He was certain of it. Right there. With him. He could feel her, in his grasps, and she wasn't leaving. Fading. She was _right there_. So close.

It was her name that he woke up with, some time later, there in that hospital room. He felt drugged and sick and sore and oh, when he turned his head, she really was there. Right there. At his bedside.

"Mom?" he whispered, blinking hazily at her. White hair, blue eyes. "Mom?"

"N-No, Ori. It's me." And then his Aunt Lisanna was crying, because she'd probably thought he was dying or something. "You're okay."

Because it had just been a dream, of course. Hallucination. Coma? Whatever. His mother wasn't there.

And she never would be again.

His chest felt heavy.

"Where," he mumbled as Lisanna rose from her chair, coming closer to grin down at him morosely as tears fell down onto him.

"You're in a hospital. Shhh. Don't move. It's okay. You're okay. You just had an...accident."

He'd had more than an accident, but semantics were not called for at the time.

It took some time before he was able to truly speak with his aunt. A nurse came in eventually followed by a doctor and, well, that killed a lot of time. When they were finally alone again, he only stared at her.

"What happened?"

"We don't know, Orion," she whispered softly as she sat at his bedside. When he squinted, he really did see his mother there, in her, and as horrible as false hope was, he kept silently praying that somehow she'd just turn into the woman. Just that once. One more time.

But she wouldn't, of course.

"Someone found you out in the woods," his aunt was going on as he only stared, skewing his eyes heavily. "Like this. You lost so much blood…"

He finally shut his eyes fully. "You came?"

"Of course I did." She almost sounded hurt he thought otherwise. "Ever wanted to come too, but someone had to stay with your sister. She wanted me to give you this though, Snow did. She was actually working on it when… Before I left to come see you. She insisted I bring it."

And Lisanna produced a sheet of paper from her purse or something with some horrible looking drawings on it, which she gently set atop Orion's chest. He didn't feel much up for looking at it in that moment though.

"Did he..." And he wasn't sure what he wanted to ask. He was so tired still, after all. "Did he..."

"Did who?"

"He..."

"Your uncle? Elfman?" Lisanna sniffled a bit. "He was out on a job. I'm sure Ever's gotten in contact with him though and he'll probably come down here, if he can. To check on you. And help get you back home, when you're well enough."

That's not who he wanted to know about. Still, he only nodded a bit.

"Bickslow sends his condolences too," she added. Then, just as quickly, "Freed too. And all of Fairy Tail, of course."

Of course.

"And Erza-" the woman started, but he opened his eyes at that.

"I saw her," he whispered, as if recalling it in that moment.

"I know. She told me."

"She was here?"

Nodding, the woman said, "It circulated in the area that a mage was found battered in the woods and, apparently, she feared it was you. Intuition, I suppose. She was with you for days."

"Days?"

"You were out, Ori." Lisanna smiled at him a bit. "But it's okay now. You're okay now-"

"Where's Erza?"

"Oh, sweetie, when she found out that you were going to be alright, she left." Lisanna truly sounded sympathetic about that. "She swore that you would understand. She was in the middle of a job, after all. It was only once she'd forced a doctor to guarantee your safe awakening that she took off though, if that helps anything. She said she'd see you when she finished up with what she had to take care of."

It sounded so much like Erza that he almost wanted to grin and wish her well on her job.

Maybe he would. Later. When he was more up for it.

Shutting his eyes once more, in his drugged up (he was nearly certain they had him on some sort of painkillers) state, he mumbled out, "Thought he'd come."

"Who, Ori?" She didn't know, of course, that he secretly hated when she called him that; she'd only do it after his mother died, no doubt as an attempt to fill that void in him, but it came off as impudent to him; only Snow could call him that anymore. "I don't-"

"Laxus."

Lisanna just stared at him for a moment before saying, "Of course he did. He's here. He just stepped out and-"

"Didn't come."

"No, Orion, I promise you; he's here. He gave blood for you. It was the first thing he wanted to do when he found out that you were in need. He's sat by your bedside so long though that I sent him to find something to eat. I promise you, he's- Here. He's here."

And he was, coming into the room then. If Orion was in a better state, he'd have realized that was the sole reason he was in a room all by himself; no doubt the man had been the one to foot the bill on this.

"You're awake." Laxus was just as shocked to see him lying there, with his eyes open, as he was to see the man at all. He had a takeout box in one hand, no doubt for Lisanna, and only stammered. "I just stepped out to get something to eat and it's so late that the hospital didn't have anything and- Fuck."

He couldn't take it anymore. Laxus just rushed over to him, shoving Lisanna her takeout as he passed, before moving to toss his arms around his son. He wasn't being as gentle as he should, but he didn't care; he was just glad that Orion was okay.

It didn't matter when the boy didn't return the gesture. Laxus didn't even try to reason with himself that perhaps he was just tired. No, he didn't care. If the boy hated him, fine. He hated him.

But he'd always love him.

No matter how much Orion fought him on it.

"I was so scared." Laxus even nuzzled his head against the frozen Orion, who didn't resist, but definitely didn't show any interest in what was happening. "I thought I lost you."

Raijin's bastard would live another day. Great.

"You tell me who did this," Laxus growled as he left the man go, staring hard in his eyes. "Alright? When you feel like it? I'll kill 'em, Orion. I'll-"

"Laxus, sit down," Lisanna spoke up with a frown. "He's still recovering. Don't overstimulate him."

But the man had his fists clenched then and damn, those slave traders had made the best decision of their pathetic lives. Orion was pretty sure Laxus would have hunted them down, anyone associated with them, and gladly taken whatever prison sentence for it too, had they killed him.

Orion, however, didn't want him anymore. Refused to look at him. Just away, constantly. For a man who had asked for his father, he definitely wasn't pleased to see him.

Perhaps he was hoping less that Laxus came and more that he didn't. So he could have something else to hate him for.

A pipe dream, it seemed; the man would be there for him always.

Partially, however, there was some embarrassment mixed in there. Not only had he made them all worry, but he'd also fucked up a job. Him. An S-Class wizard. Royally fucked it up. Nearly got himself killed.

Was there anything more piteous than that? The one thing he was supposed to be good at, the only thing, and he couldn't even get it done.

He could almost hear it, all the others making snide remarks about how his daddy had given him the title. It held no validity with him. He hadn't earned it. He-

"Look at me." Laxus wasn't done with him, it seemed. Even when Orion refused, the man only said, "You'll get better, okay? And don't worry about anything; I got you covered. Alright? And when you get home, back to Magnolia, I'll have your room all set up. We'll take care of you for awhile, huh?"

Even though he refused to look at him, acknowledge him, it was enough for Laxus to know that he heard him.

If Snow was the last thing Mirajane ever gave him, Orion was the first; he'd protect both of them until the end of time.

But it wasn't Laxus that he stayed with when he got back to Magnolia, where there was some more recovering in store for him. No, he stayed with Erza, of course, who, after finishing that job, stayed pretty faithfully by his side.

And gave him that good scolding he deserved for being so foolish.

"Laxus is gonna try to go after them," he grumbled to her one day as he stretched out on her couch, broken foot propped up. "Before I get the chance. They were _my_ job. Not his."

"He can go after whatever he wishes," Erza told him simply. She neglected, of course, to inform him that there was nothing for Laxus to go after; during that interim between that final job she had to finish up and getting back to Orion at the hospital, she might have made a few stops of her own… "It is not your concern. Getting better is. You're the one that put you in this position. Not your father."

He'd have grunted, but that might have gotten him kicked out, so he only sulked in silence.

While he was over there, he got quite a few visitors, much to the annoyance of Erza. Her home wasn't necessarily a closed off place, but she was not rather big on guests. At least not when she saw them all up at the guild constantly.

For Orion though, she put up with it. From his Aunt Ever and Uncle Elfman to Bickslow and Freed, he'd had an array of visitors. The only one that he truly cared for, however, was when his Aunt Lisanna came by with Snow.

She was real nervous too, about approaching him. She'd seen him after rough jobs before, but never so beaten up. He had bandages all over and a cast and she was just overwhelmed. But Orion only took her into his lap and held her and talked about everything and anything _other_ that his predicament.

Right before it was time for her to leave, however, Snow suddenly looked up at him with those eyes that were only supposed to belong to his mother, and asked, "Ori?"

"What?"

"You come back?" She was questioning him on it, for some reason. It was obvious that he was back. He'd came back. But still, he only nodded at her, knowing she must have been scared, when hearing about him all beaten up in some hospital.

"I'll always come back," he promised her, even leaning down to nuzzle against the white hair she'd stolen from their mother as well. "You know that."

She didn't know, of course, that Orion hadn't truly come back, ever, from the graveyard that night when he buried the man he'd never grown up knowing was his great-grandfather, much less the realization that he'd spent his entire life based around a lie.

But her Ori, the one she'd known since she was a child, he was back, there, in the living room, still swarmed with hatred and resentment and pain, all covering up something deeper, something he'd never let out again, for fear it'd hurt him just as profoundly as it had before.

And when she nodded and gave him a kiss on the new scar he had slashed into his cheek (as well as where she''d drawn a cute little doggy on his cast, because she loved him), she only waved bye-bye to him and Erza and skipped right off, content once more in a way none of his other relatives could ever be for him again.

"Ori'll always come back," Snow informed Lisanna once they were out on the street. Just in case the woman had missed it. And Lisanna just patted her on the head with a soft, sad grin.

"Mmmm," she hummed softly as Snow held tight to her hand. "Maybe one day."

* * *

 **I always take for granted that everyone who likes one of my series reads all my series (because I'm conceited and shit), so I don't really give them all the same, fair treatment as far as updates go, but A Dragon's Love is definitely not dead. I'm still planning a multi-chapter fic that takes place before Mirajane's passing as well as another that deals more with the aftermath of it than these one-shots do. So don't give up on this series just yet; I'm just super busy with other stuff is all.**


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